Gallery Member Spotlight - tetleyjackrussel
In the latest installment of this regular series, we cast the spotlight on members of the PhotographyBLOG Gallery and ask them about their photography. The 17th member to sit in the interview chair is tetleyjackrussel.
What
do you enjoy most about the Gallery?
I find that this site is most enjoyable through the friendly laid-back nature of most of its members, if you have a question on anything photographic or anything for that matter there is always someone willing to help, also the fact that all levels of photography are catered for, in fact when I'm boring the pants off people talking about my hobby I always recommend this site to which a few have become members.
Do you think being a Gallery member has helped improve your photography?
Yes absolutely, I have had so much help and encouragement from virtually all the members on this site, I've also had some strong critique which at the time I didn't appreciate but on reflection it 'woke me up' so to speak and made me look more carefully at how to compose a shot and use my camera settings and tripod occasionally (tut tut). If you go back to the start of my gallery you will see some of the first 'snapshots' , I love seeing the difference between then and now, hopefully I'm getting better.
Landscapes
are obviously your favourite topic - what is it that interests
you so much?
I love all types of photography but most appealing to me is wildlife but I discovered that I have three huge drawbacks with this. Tetley my dog, my patience and the fact that wildlife moves LOL. Really my favourite at present is landscapes, I just love all of the colours, the shapes and especially clouds or sunsets and I find it amazing that I can revisit the same place throughout the year and find that I have ever changing subject matter.
What
kind of equipment do use now, and what did you start with?
Ha the hardware, camera is a Canon EOS 20D, I love this camera, lenses Canon EFS 17-85mm (my workhorse, wouldn't be without it), Tamron 28-300mm, Sigma 10-20mm (my favourite), Sigma 55-200mm, Sigma 170-500mm (for when wildlife stays still), a Slik tripod, Manfrotto monopod, Jessops beanpod, Canon remote control, various filters, Tamrac trekker backpack, for editing Adobe CS2 v 9.0 and ACDSEE Pro, for critique and keeping me out of the pub Bridget my wife version 1.0. The first camera I started out with was a sort of compact Canon 35mm thingy then I moved onto a Fuji Finepix F401 prior to purchasing my 20D.
Have you sold any of your Gallery photographs?
No I've given plenty away, friends have quite a few of my pictures adorning their walls. I don't know if it's just me being self critical but I don't know who would pay money for my hobby plus I haven,t got much of a business head on my shoulders. But on this note Bridget has arranged for a card producer to look at our work who seemed to be quite bowled over by her portfolio maybe they might like my portfolio too, who knows.
If so, what has been your biggest sale?
Mmmm the biggest sale, can you put a value on an appreciative smile ? .....Yes you can three pints of beer LOL. No seriously its only ever been beer and people telling me how good I am ...that's not a bad price for a picture.
What
is the one piece of advice that you would give to other budding
photographers?
I would say enjoy what you are doing, learn all about your camera, learn from all the people on this site, don't be afraid to ask questions if you feel silly putting a question openly on the site message the person you will find they will be only too willing to help. Also as your pictures begin improving and you see new members embarking on a wonderful journey of photographic discovery on this site, please don't lose sight of where you came from, help them along the way.
You can see more of tetleyjackrussel's photographs in this User Gallery.